Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Functions of Mass Media

As mentioned earlier, mass media
have pervasive effects on our personal and social life.

The role and scope of mass media
in our society are in the following areas:

üInformation

üEducation

üEntertainment

üPersuasion

1. Information
function

Mass media carry a lot of
information which are essential for our day to day life. We know exam results,
weather forecasts, current affairs, traffic regulations, last dates,
precautions, government policies etc. from mass media. The core of media’s
information function is performed by the media content called news. The place
or time dedicated for news in a mass media is called news hole. News is the
most consumed item of any media. News can be defined as reports on things that
people want or need to know. Information should be accurate, objective and complete. Biased or
incomplete reports will keep the audience away from the media. Advertising is
also mass media’s information function. We get much useful information from
classified advertisements.

2. Education
function

Information is different from
education. Education is systematically organized information with predefined objectives.
The primary source of education in our society is schools or colleges. Media also
perform the functions that educational institutions do. Media are life-long
educators for the society. They give us comprehensive knowledge of selected
topics. Non-news content or news-based content like editorials, articles,
columns in newspapers provide us with complete idea of a subject. Health Magazines,
IT magazines are also examples for education through media. Moreover, we have a
number television channels dedicated for mass education.

3. Entertainment
function

Irrespective of their type, mass
media are wonderful entertainers. All media have

entertainment content. Newspapers
publish cartoons, comics, puzzles, special weekend supplements for amusing
people. Lion share of magazine content such as short stories, novels, satires
and cartoons are for entertainment. Movies are another big stock for
entertainment. Audio-Visual media such as television and radio are also
primarily concentrate on entertainment function through their programmes based
on sports, film, and fashion shows etc.

4. Persuasion

Persuasion means influencing
attitudes or opinions. Mass media have many ways to persuade people. Most
people form their opinion from information they get from mass media. Media have
direct and indirect methods for persuasion. For public opinion formation, mass media
use editorials, news analysis and commentaries. In such cases, the purpose is
clear and direct. The most obvious method of persuasion is advertising.
Advertisements are direct methods to influence purchasing behaviour of the
public. Some media report events hiding their vested interests in news. Such
biased, subjective reports are for persuading people to form favourable attitudes towards them
or their interests. Opinionated news is an undirected method of persuasion. It’s
against the ethics of responsible journalism. News and opinion should be given
separately.